Kate Murtagh

(On Cable TV, December 2022) Now that’s more like it. After being seriously disappointed by Marlowe, a 1969 neo-noir attempt to update tough-guy private eye Philip Marlowe to a post-Production Code era, here is Farewell, My Lovely to show us how it’s done. The first good decision taken by the film is to take place in the 1940s, allowing the dour 1970 outlook to reflect directly on the classic noir era. The second-best decision is having Robert Mitchum play the role of Philip Marlowe—an ideal tough-guy pick matching what the fictional private detective should look like. As for the rest, a suitably twisty script and evocative direction from Dick Richards wrap up the film in a nice sheen of pure noir ambiance (technically neo-noir, but few films of the neo-noir era feel as close to the source material as this one). More than anything else, Farewell, My Lovely commits to the material and the right way to play it—compared to Marlowe, it’s not just an improvement but a relief. Mitchum is near-perfect as the protagonist, but many striking supporting performances also help populate the seedy run-down world that Marlowe works in—Jack O’Halloran as a brick wall of a man, Kate Murtagh as an imposing madam—and then Sylvester Stallone briefly popping up in a near-tertiary role. If you’re anything near a film noir fan, Farewell, My Lovely is pure deliciousness—a celebration of the earlier genre, but a good example of it in its own right.